Essay On 1970-1980

1970 - 1980

During the 1970’s, the United States experienced "Watergate," the most famous political scandal in American History. It was a scandal that began with a break in and ended in resignation. On June 17, 1972 five intruders were caught and arrested for illegally entering the rooms of the Democratic National Committee headquarters in Washington’s Watergate Complex. "The investigation of the break-in lead directly to the reelection campaign of President Richard M. Nixon and unraveled a web of political spying and sabotage, bribery and the illegal use of campaign funds" (Washingtonpost.com). Two-and-a-half-years later along with a number of court hearings led to the 1974 resignation of Richard M. Nixon. Nixon became the first President

Under its terms, U.S. troops would with drawl from Vietnam. Even though this ended many years of warfare, the "Vietnam War badly burdened the American economy" (Bondi 125). Turning away from the problem of increased debt, America saw technology at its best. On November 16, 1973 NASA gave us Skylab, our country’s first space station: "Skylab offered is an opportunity to do what none had done before – to study the Sun from space" (Eddy xiii). Despite the happenings of Watergate and the weight of the Vietnam War, this ground- breaking space exploration brought excitement and opportunity to the United

"Much of the art of the 1970’s was highly conceptual, referring to nothing but itself" (Bondi 41). Many different forms of art developed during the 1970’s one of those being Feminist Art. In New York, in the early 1970’s a group of women created the A.I.R. Gallery to protest their segregation from male dominated areas such as Museum of Modern Art and the Whitney Museum. In 1979, feminist artist Judy Chicago along with help of a few hundred others created the best-known feminist work of the decade titled The Dinner Party. "The Dinner Party sought to reclaim these "feminine" arts; its suggestive imagery also openly celebrated female sexuality (Bondi 42). Another form of art that was also born in this decade was site sculpture also called land art or earthworks. This type of art is environmentally conscious, which is seen in many of the artists’ works. For example Robert Smithson, a U.S. artist, created Spiral Jetty, "It is a spiral walkway of earth and stones built on the Great Salt Lake, Utah" (Williams 603). This is one of the best-known examples of land art. Another form of art that took on a new dimension was photo-realism. Photo-realist artists painted the exact replica of photographs, which were used as models for their paintings. As for artist Richard Estes’ landscape paintings many viewers were "Tricked into believing the work is a photograph" (Bondi 43). Although many see the 1970’s as the "art of nothing" there were